BIRDS. 453 



I was, however, greatly disappointed, for the ocelli appeared 

 flat, or even concave. But Mr. Gould soon made the case 

 clear to me, for he held the feathers erect, in the position 

 in which they would naturally be displayed, and now, from 

 the light shining on them from above, each ocellus at once 

 resembled the ornament called a ball and socket. These 

 feathers have been shown to several artists, and all have 

 expressed their admiration at the perfect shading. It may 

 well be asked, could such artistically shaded ornaments 

 have been formed by means of sexual selection ? But it 

 will be convenient to defer giving an answer to this ques- 

 tion until we treat in the next chapter of the principle of 

 gradation. 



The foregoing remarks relate to the secondary wing- 

 feathers, but the primary wing-feathers, which in most 

 gallinaceous birds are uniformly colored, are in the Argus 

 pheasant equally wonderful. They are of a soft brown tint 

 with numerous dark spots, each of whicli consists of two or 

 three black dots with a surrounding dark zone. But the 

 chief ornament is a space parallel to the dark-blue shaft, 

 which in outline forms a perfect second feather lying within 

 the true feather. This inner part is colored of a lighter 

 chestnut, and is thickly dotted with minute white points. 

 I have shown this feather to several persons, and many 

 have admired it even more than the ball and socket feath- 

 ers, and have declared that it was more like a work of art 

 than of nature. Xow these feathers are quite hidden on 

 all ordinary occasions, but are fully displayed, together 

 with the long secondary feathers, when they are all ex- 

 panded together so as to form the great fan or shield. 



The case of the male Argus pheasant is eminently inter- 

 esting, because it affords good evidence that the most re- 

 fined beauty may serve as a sexual charm, and for no other 

 purpose. We must conclude that this is the case, as the 

 secondary and primary wing-feathers are not at all dis- 

 played, and the ball and socket ornaments are not exhibited 

 in full perfection until the male assumes the attitude of 

 courtship. The Argus pheasant does not possess brilliant 

 colors, so that his success in love appears to depend on the 

 great size of his plumes and on the elaboration of the most 

 elegant patterns. Many will declare that it is utterly in- 

 credible that a female bird should be able to appreciate fine 

 shading and exquisite patterns. It is undoubtedly a mar- 



